I sure does seem like someone hit the panic button.

I needed more plastic food-storage containers, and the local Walgreen\’s doesn\’t carry them. This morning I headed for Walmart; I figured they\’d have some. I decided to get my groceries there, too; might as well make one trip of it.

It was probably around 8:15 am when I arrived at the store. It was busier than usual for that hour; and I saw many customers wheeling shopping carts that were almost overflowing.

I found the containers; and when I saw paring knives with 3-inch blades, I got one. I\’ve been making do with a seven-inch blade for everything! That can get awkward.

Oh, well, back to the story. It\’s lucky I didn\’t need to get canned goods. I saw many an empty shelf! Even dried beans were almost gone, which was a disappointment. I had wanted garbanzos, and maybe lentils; never mind that I had several kinds of dried legumes already.

Bread was going fast, too. I really wanted sourdough, but didn\’t see any. I got rye bread instead. Luckily I found what fresh produce I was after.

It\’s also a good thing that I already had a good supply of what seems to have become scarce: toilet paper. While waiting in line to check out, I was chatting with the customer behind me. She said the store was out of it. In fact, she said the current situation reminded her of just before a hurricane, when people freak out and buy all they can.

Unless I wind up having to stay indoors for more than a month, which I suspect is unlikely, I didn\’t really need to buy any more food. But I want to try a variation on a recipe from the ADA Vegetarian Cookbook. I needed sweet potatoes, and scallions. I was out of apples, too, and running low on carrots.

So now I\’m all set. No need to panic.